The Influence of Dissolution on Bedrock Channel Evolution: Insights from Modelling and Field Observations

Abstract:

Despite the large global distribution of soluble bedrock, fluvial geomorphological studies typically regard dissolution as a negligible erosion mechanism in bedrock channels when compared to rates of mechanical erosion. Limited prior field observations have suggested that at the transition from insoluble to soluble substrate bedrock channels become wider, less steep, or both. By extending the Fastscape landscape evolution model to include dissolution as an erosion mechanism, we repeatedly produce landscapes with trunk streams consistent with field observations. However, in small tributaries, channel steepening occurs at the contact of the insoluble and soluble lithologies. Furthermore, as the main channel in a basin encounters the soluble layer, the increased erosion due to dissolution acts produces a local increase in the rate of base level lowering, resulting in steepening of channels upstream of the lithologic contact. The increased erosion at the lithological contact in the main stem also causes hillsope steepening in the soluble reaches. Independent field observations in the Buffalo National River Basin agree with the model results. Knickpoints and slot canyons are common at the lithologic contact in small tributaries, and channel widening occurs in soluble reaches in the main stem.